Redesigned Notepad With Dark Mode For Windows 11
Microsoft is beginning to roll out the redesigned Notepad for Windows 11 to all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel. First, you will notice a completely updated UI that aligns with the new visual design of Windows 11, including rounded corners, Mica, and more. Knowing how important Notepad is to so many of your daily workflows, Microsoft designed this modern spin on the classic app to feel fresh, but still familiar.
While the visual updates like the addition of dark mode, updated right-click menu, Quick Access Toolbar, and Windows’ new theme-adopting material are nice, the functional updates in this redesign will probably be the biggest upgrade to anyone who actually writes in Notepad. By default, Notepad will adapt to your system theme preferences, but you can change this option yourself in the brand-new settings page which is the new home for font options as well.
In the redesigned Notepad, the text search tool and the find and replace tool are two different pop-up windows, accessed by two different keyboard shortcuts as against the former design with one pop-up window. The redesign combines them into one floating bar instead of something that looks like it’s from the old Windows XP era.
Find and Replace interface still has some quirks (like not automatically wrapping) which will be addressed in future updates, but it’s definitely a more modern experience. Microsoft has also promised to address in future updates, other issues affecting keyboard access keys usage for when switching between different input languages or while using Japanese IME, and some unexpected behavior noticed when using shift-click to select text or when scrolling.
Microsoft also says it’s adding multi-level undo, this is an improvement as it replaces the old version’s undo system that only lets you go back one step. It still doesn’t work like you might expect a modern app to, letting you hit Ctrl-Z to delete one word at a time, but it clearly has more memory than the old version of Notepad.
As productivity, performance, and reliability is paramount on Notepad, Microsoft is focused on smaller updates to make the app feel less like a relic, rather than stuffing it full of new features and turning it into an entirely different app. MIcrosoft is also working to improve Notepad performance for when opening very large files.
If you’re running the test version of the OS and don’t see it, you may want to check for an update in the Microsoft Store. Everyone else will likely have to wait a little bit to get it, but it’s nice to see Microsoft continue the trend of updating and redesigning some of its built-in apps like Notepad, Photos, and Paint alongside its bigger products like Office and, of course, Windows.
